GET THE PITCHER
Darrin
and I hiked in South Carolina’s Mountain Bridge again last weekend. I planned a hike there even though I’d sworn
that area off until fall, when cooler temperatures would prevail. I had an ulterior motive though. I wanted to revisit the cataract bog on the
Pinnacle Pass Trail while the pitcher plants, grass pink, paintbrush, and other
wildflowers were still out.
I
met Darrin at Echo Valley on Saturday morning.
There, we debated our route for the day.
We intended to do a shuttle hike starting from Jones Gap. We’d hike at least as far as Oil Camp
Creek. We could leave a car there, less
than a mile downstream from the Pinnacle Pass Trail. Or we could continue another 5 miles or so to
Camp Spearhead on highway 11. Darrin
pointed out that we’d probably be ready to quit by the time we got to Oil Camp
Creek. I didn’t doubt it, but I wanted a
longer, tougher workout. We opted for
the longer hike. It turns out that
Darrin was right, but I got my workout.
We
dropped my car off at the old Camp Spearhead and Darrin drove from there. Parking his car at Jones Gap enabled us to
dodge the entry fee. He’s a park
volunteer, and does regular trail maintenance, giving him free access. In fact, he has adopted the Mountain Bridge
Passage, a 4 mile trail connecting the Pinnacle Pass Trail with highway
11. We would be hiking this trail at the
end of our hike.
We
arrived at Jones Gap a little after 9am.
After a warm up hike to the bathroom, we gathered our gear for the main
event. However, instead of taking the
Rim of the Gap Trail to the Pinnacle Pass Trail, we took a short cut. First we walked back down the park road a
short distance. Then Darrin led Kona and
I on an easy bushwhack to the remains of an old road. We followed the old road along a small stream
and up to the Pinnacle Pass Trail. This
shaved a little bit of distance off of a long hike, and enabled us to bypass
some annoying PUDS (pointless ups and downs) near the beginning of the Pinnacle
Pass Trail.
Boone
missed this hike because he had a minor surgery a few days earlier. Kona did really well on her first hike
without her big brother watching out for her.
It helped that we didn’t run into anybody else all day.
The
initial climb up from Jones Gap was grueling.
It’s a steep climb over rugged terrain with difficult footing. Despite our relatively early start, it was
already sunny, hot, and humid. It was a
relief when we finally reached the overlook a bit below the top of the
mountain.
We
took a long break there to enjoy the view.
I gave Kona some water, and we each took some photos before resuming the
hike. We resumed the climb, before
finally reaching the crest of Pinnacle Mountain. There were some ups and downs beyond that point,
but this part of the hike was fairly easy.
We passed a campsite and two short connecting trails leading over to the
Rim of the Gap Trail. Before long we
began our descent to the cataract bog.
The
cataract bog is an unusual place. There
is a low volume waterfall here, as a small stream slides and cascades over an
open rock face. The abundant water and
sunshine provide ideal habitat for some unusual flora, including pitcher
plants, grass pink orchids, and paintbrush.
We stopped at the top of the cliff on the far side of the waterfall for
lunch. Afterwards, we set out to explore
the area.
Darrin
kicked his boots off and I started to follow suit, but the hot rock face
changed my mind. A few minutes later he
mentioned that he’d found a scorpion here on a prior visit, and suggested that
we go look for one. I thought this was a
great idea - let’s take our shoes off and look for scorpions! And thus was born the quote of the day.
Darrin
walked over to an old log and started moving around pieces of rotted wood. Sure enough, his efforts revealed a scorpion,
about the size of my thumb. I was
excited and surprised. Despite several
trips to the Grand Canyon and southern Utah, I’d never seen a scorpion
before. It posed for a few photos before
scurrying away with alarming speed. A
minute later Darrin uncovered a gnarly looking centipede. Later we stumbled upon a garter snake, and we
saw several spiders along the way, too.
It was also a banner day for ticks.
Kona finished the day with 21 ticks, while Darrin collected 12 and I had
4. Overall, it was a productive hike in
terms of the creepy crawlies.
We
explored upstream and down looking for flowers.
We found lots of pitcher plants and grass pink orchids downstream, and
more pitcher plants upstream. A bit
later we bushwhacked downstream in search of the paintbrush Jack and I had
found on a hike a year earlier. Initially
we overshot that spot, but we found it on our way back up. This year it was even better, with many more
paintbrush blooms than we’d found a year earlier.
We
resumed the hike with a long, steep descent to the base of the cliff face we’d
been exploring. There are a number of
low volume waterfalls sliding down these rock faces. One of them is almost certainly the same
stream that runs through the cataract bog.
Unfortunately the waterfalls aren’t terribly photogenic, and the light was
terrible. We did find a nice, high
cascading waterfall spilling into Oil Camp Creek, though it was also not
photogenic. Later, during the last few
miles of our hike, we passed two additional cascades as well as a small
waterfall that Jack calls “Hamlin Falls”.
Jack named it after Darrin since he has adopted the adjacent trail, the
Mountain Bridge Passage.
The
hike out on the Mountain Bridge Passage Trail was pleasant. The route follows old roads and new
footpaths, and offers an easy walk. This
was enjoyable after the rugged terrain we’d traversed earlier. Aside from the cascades and waterfalls
mentioned earlier, we also saw several varieties of wildflowers, including
Indian Pink, which is one that I’d never seen before.
We
finished up our hike at 6:30, over 9 hours after we started. We “only” covered 11 ½ miles during that
time, but it was a rugged 11 ½ miles on a hot day. We also spent over an hour exploring the
cataract bog on the Pinnacle Pass Trail.
I’ve
now hike almost the entire Pinnacle Pass Trail.
I’ve also hiked almost every trail in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness, so
I guess I ought to make a point to finish up the trails I haven’t completed.
Back to South Carolina
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!